A Movie, Ice Cream, and Conversation
by William Logan
Summary: After "The HeX Factor," Lance tries to make up with Kitty by taking her out for a night on the town. Please R


This is just an idea that I had after watched "The HeX Factor" for the quadrillionth time. (Seems I come up with lots of ideas for Kitty/Lance stories after watching episodes in multiples of one million or so)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution, it belongs to Marvel, as well as all of the characters related to it. Anything else that I use that's copyrighted belongs to its respective owners (no, duh...)  
  
---------------------------------  
"A Movie, Ice Cream, and Conversation"  
By William Logan  
---------------------------------  
  
Kitty Pryde sat in her room at the Xavier mansion, thoughtfully reading over the note Lance had left in her locker that morning. It asked her to meet him in the park at nine that night. Kitty didn't see the harm in it, although the Brotherhood had dealt a major defeat to them in the mall just two nights before. The damage from the battle was still being repaired, and the town was flooded with rumors about what had happened that night. Kitty sighed and got up off of the bed, pulling her pink sweater out of the closet and putting it on, then grabbing her purse. She went to phase through the wall, not wanting anyone to know where she was going, when she heard the door open behind her.  
  
"Where are you going," she heard Rogue's voice ask, "I know you got that note from Lance this afternoon... you're not going to meet that loser, are you?"  
  
Kitty turned around, a grimace on her face, "Lance is not a loser."  
  
"Hey, what you do is no business of mine," Rogue said, sitting on her bed, "I'm just saying that you should be careful. There's no telling what those yahoos might try to do."  
  
"Lance is different from the rest of the Brotherhood, he's, like, got alot of potential. Before the attack at the mall, he warned me to leave... he didn't want me to get hurt."  
  
"Yeah, I noticed that he had the courtesy to try to warn the rest of us. All I'm saying is be careful when you're dealing with any of them. Everyone in the Brotherhood house is potentially dangerous. And whatever you do, don't run into Scott or Jean, they're both out on dates tonight."  
  
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Kitty said, phasing through the window and climbing down the tree near the balcony.  
  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Lance sat on a bench in the park, staring at a picture that he and Kitty had taken in one of those photo booths on one of their secret dates. He smiled, thinking about the fun that they had that night. He could only hope that Kitty could forgive him for the mall incident. He had tried to warn her about what was going down, but she didn't listen, and ended up getting stuck in mid-phase, then teleporting into a tree outside the mall when Wanda messed with Kurt's powers. Things had changed again in Lance's life, he'd gotten used to being the leader in the Brotherhood house, the mature one. Now that Mystique was back, he had to get back into line with the rest of them. It hadn't been easy for him to sneak out of the house, and he really wasn't completely sure that no one had seen him leave. If anyone had, this night would just end up making things worse between him and Kitty. He stuffed one hand into one of the pockets in his jeans, making sure he still had his cash with him. He had just enough to get both of them into the movies and for some popcorn and drinks. It was all the money he had, he made it by doing yardwork for some of the neighbors, although he had to do so without the rest of the Brotherhood's knowledge. They wouldn't have let him live it down. He especially didn't want them to know that he had raked Mrs. Jackson's lawn for free, since good deeds weren't looked upon favorably in the Brotherhood house, it was one of many things that annoyed him about living there.  
  
"Is this seat taken?" he heard a voice ask from behind him. He turned and smiled, looking up at Kitty.  
  
"No, it's not," he said, watching her sit down and giving a little bit of a smile, "look, Kitty, I'm sorry about what happened at the mall the other night."  
  
"Sorry doesn't cut it, Lance," Kitty said, frowning, "all of us could have gotten seriously hurt, especially with Scott's power going out of control like that. Whatever possessed you to set us up like that at the mall?"  
  
Lance stayed silent for a few moments, staring at his worn-out sneakers, before finally speaking up, still not able to look Kitty in the eyes, "Let's just say I'm not calling the shots anymore. I didn't have much of a choice."  
  
"That's a pathetic excuse, Lance," Kitty huffed, "you always have a choice!"  
  
He wanted to tell her that he was afraid of making the choice, that he didn't want to look like a coward to his friends, but the truth was that he was even more afraid of her reaction to that. He sighed and nodded, "Yeah, you're right. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" He looked up and gazed into her eyes for a few moments. She blushed and turned away.  
  
"Well," she said, "I understand that you're not the one calling the shots anymore... so, like, maybe you could take me out to a movie or something." She smiled, looking up at him, her ponytail swaying with the movement. Kitty knew that it wouldn't fix anything, but it would be nice to spend time with him without any interruptions.  
  
"All right," he replied, nodding, "let's go." Lance offered her his hand. She accepted, getting up off of the bench and headed toward the cinema.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
The pair of happy mutants had gotten into the theatre, bought popcorn and soda, and found a seat successfully before the movie started. They had chosen to see Resident Evil, mainly because Lance hadn't gotten a chance to see it yet, because of lack of income. They sat there together, Lance with his arm around Kitty, and made it through the entire movie without incident, which was surprising given their usual luck with dates. They filed out of the theatre along with the rest of the crowd, chatting idly about their favorite scenes from the movie.  
  
"Yeah, I liked that part, too... but I still think the best part was when---" he was interrupted when Kitty pushed him behind the door to the theatre, "hey, what was that for?"  
  
"Shhh," she said, peaking out around the door and making a face, turning back to Lance, "it's Scott and Taryn. C'mon," after making sure no one was looking she pulled him quickly toward the exit and phased through the door, running a good distance down the street to make sure Scott didn't catch up with them. They stopped, a bit out of breath, and laughed, "That was, like, kind of fun."  
  
"Yeah," he replied, smiling. He leaned over, caught up in the moment, and kissed her on the lips. She obviously enjoyed the kiss, and responded with one of her own.  
  
"What was that for?" she asked.  
  
"Just because," Lance shrugged, "so, now what do we do?"  
  
"We could... go for ice cream," she grinned. Lance hesitated, dipping a hand into his empty pocket, trying not to be too obvious, "don't worry, my treat," Kitty said. They walked hand in hand down the street. No one would ever know that the two of them were any different than the other happy couples, nevermind suspect that they had each been partially responsible for the near destruction of the mall. Lance opened the door to the ice cream parlor and gestured for Kitty to step inside first, and they were led to a booth by a waitress and sat down facing each other, each of them ordering a hot fudge sundae. Kitty normally was a bit more health conscious, but she figured that tonight was her night to have fun. They made small talk about how things were going, though when the topic veered too closely to the events of the last couple of days things became quiet for a few moments. Eventually, their ice cream came and they ate, giving each other occasional glances and making a comment every now and then on people from school who came and went from the ice cream shop.  
  
"And we all know why she's one of the more popular girls in school," Lance said, pointing out one of the cheerleaders. She was leaning on the arm of a rather large guy in a varsity jacket, a typical jock, "she has very impressive assets."  
  
"Lance!" Kitty said, seeming a bit angry at first, but then erupted into a fit of giggles. She heard the door to the shop open and looked up, her face turning slightly pale, "oh no..." she said, trying to figure out how to hide her face.  
  
"What? What is it?" Lance turned to see Jean and Duncan enter. He groaned, bringing his hand up to cover his eyes, "this is not going to be good." There were too many people around for Kitty to phase the both of them out, that and they hadn't paid yet, and Kitty didn't want to skip out on the bill.  
  
The other couple walked past their table, and Jean glanced over, looking shocked, then speaking in a pleasant tone, "Hey, Kitty," she said, ignoring Lance, "Duncan, I'll just be a moment, okay?" He approached her to give her a kiss, but she turned and it landed on her cheek. He looked a bit irritated and went off to their table, smiling in what was perhaps too friendly of a manor at the waitress. "Kitty, what are you doing here with him?"  
  
"I'm pretty sure it's what's called a date," Lance interrupted, "kind of like the one you're on right now. If you'd kindly..." Jean cut him off.  
  
"After what you and your buddies pulled on us the other night..."  
  
"Jean! I can, like, handle myself fine, okay? Now leave." Kitty said, her face turning red with anger. Jean paused for a second then went over to sit by Duncan, a bit flustered.  
  
"Whoa," Lance said.  
  
"What?" Kitty snapped at him.  
  
"Just remind me to stay on your good side," he laughed a bit. She gave him a very small smile, which eventually turned into a full one. The rest of the night went by quickly, and they parted company outside the ice cream parlor.  
  
"I had a wonderful time tonight, Lance," she said, smiling, "thank you."  
  
"Anytime, Kitty," he replied, "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, I guess," she paused, then leaned up to kiss him on the cheek softly, "bye," she said, turning and walking away. Lance rubbed his cheek and smiled, heading back toward the Brotherhood mansion. When he walked in, he found Mystique standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him.  
  
"Where were you tonight?" She asked, her voice colder than ice.  
  
"I just went out for a walk to clear my mind, that's all," he walked past her, up the stairs, "I didn't know it was a criminal offense to get some fresh air." She grabbed his arm, her grip was enough to make him wince.  
  
"I hope you had a good time on your date," she said, "it will be the last time you sneak out of this house for a long time, I promise you that." He pulled his arm out of her grip, glaring at her and going back up the stairs, going to his room and collapsing on the bed. He laid there for a few minutes, smiling satisfactorily to himself as he drifted off to sleep, thinking of Kitty.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Kitty entered the Institute through the front door, knowing that since Jean had caught her out on the date that her secret was blown anyhow. Rogue wouldn't have told anyone, but Jean definitely would have. As Kitty was walking to her bedroom, Jean came out into the hall.  
  
"I hope you had a good time tonight," Jean said, making sure that it was clear she didn't really mean it.  
  
"Actually, I really did... it was nice to get out of this place for a while. Forget about being a mutant for a while, you know?" Kitty replied. Jean nodded, understanding just what she meant.  
  
"I just wish you could pick some better company. Lance isn't exactly the ideal date."  
  
"Like you'd know? You, like, never even gave him a chance! You and the rest of the X-Men totally blew him off when he tried to join," she breezed past Jean and walked into her and Rogue's room, slamming the door behind her.  
  
"Date went that well, huh?" Rogue sat up in bed and turned the light on, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light.  
  
"Besides being rudely interrupted by Jean, actually, it went really well," Kitty crossed the room, grabbing her nightgown out of the closet and getting changed in the bathroom, "Lance really is a decent guy. I just wish that everyone else could see that."  
  
"Jean told us all about your encounter, and I'm proud of you for bursting her little bubble. I mean, she's really not that bad, but there are times when she is way to full of herself, you know? And I'm glad you had a good time with Lance, although I can't say that I've changed my mind about the guy."  
  
"At least you let me have my own opinion about him," Kitty sighed, sitting on the bed, "we went to the movies and had ice cream... it was really nice. Apparently he'd been planning it for a while, just hadn't been able to get around to it. He apologized for the other night..."  
  
"Yeah, well, that doesn't fix much, now does it?"  
  
"I could tell he really meant it, though. I could see it in his eyes. Well, it's time to turn in, I guess. Goodnight, Rogue."  
  
"Night, Kitty," she replied. Kitty happily fell asleep thinking about her wonderful evening with Lance.  
  
---------------------------------  
FIN 


End file.
